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Confused and overwhelmed by Phonak Infinio Sphere I90s and Roger On v2

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I’m really confused and overwhelmed by conflicting information and choice so would appreciate advice please.

I live near Cambridge in the UK and work as a teacher/trainer. I’m currently trialling a pair of Infinio Sphere v90s and need to sort out the issues I’m having with these before the end of the trial period (70 days left to go).

Prior to buying the Spheres, I wore NHS Oticon aids but have never found them comfortable and had to force myself to wear them. By the end of the day, I wanted to tear my ears off! I have small ears (including small ear canals) and wear glasses, which doesn’t really help!

My hearing loss is only mild-moderate, but I really struggle with speech clarity (particularly women and children’s voices and people with any pronounced accent), and this severely impacts my work. I also struggle to hear speech in noisy environments; hence I was attracted to the Spheres. I hadn’t appreciated until after the trial started that the speech in noise function on the Spheres is not so effective with the vented domes audiologists insist are best for me (even though I find them itchy and uncomfortable).

Strangely, even though the Spheres are bigger and heavier than my Oticons, I find them more comfortable and the speech clarity is wonderful.

A few months ago, I was granted a whole host of Roger equipment by Access to Work including a Roger On v2, a Pass-Around Mic, two Table Mic 11, and a Touchscreen Mic. I’ve never used this sort of equipment before and would really like to get to grips with it, although I suspect my Access to Work Assessor went into overkill when she recommended all this stuff!

I already own an iPhone 15Pro, iPad and Windows PC. Before falling down this rabbit hole, I used to think I was reasonably tech savvy, but right now I feel like chucking the whole lot through the window!

Unfortunately, after being awarded all the Roger equipment, I found out the Roger On v2 needs a shoe attached to the end of each hearing aid to work with my NHS Oticon aids. As I already struggle with wearing these aids - that didn’t seem a viable option.
I was told by my NHS audiologist the only aids that connect to Roger equipment without needing a shoe hanging off the back are Phonak’s own brand. Therefore, I bit the bullet and decided to purchase my own Phonak aids. I did some research and was told by three different private audiologists that Sphere 90s would connect seamlessly to Roger.

However, when I went for the initial fitting at Specsavers a few weeks ago, the audiologist couldn’t connect Roger On v2 to the Spheres. She rang Phonak tech support and they told her I would also need to buy an installer (£180+) and two new receivers (almost £400 each)! I really cannot afford another grand on top of the £3,000 I’ve just paid for the Spheres.

Since then, I’ve been driving myself mad going round in circles reading conflicting advice and information. I’ve read a few posts on here from people saying there is a way you can connect these by sticking a pin into part of the aid to open the licence but I’ve lost the post which linked to a video! If anyone can give me more info on that I’d be grateful. I’ve not read anything on this forum about needing different receivers though.

I’ve pasted part of an email below from my audiologist at Specsavers. She states Phonak tech support have told her:

  1. The receivers that we require if you have a Roger ON V2 are called ROGER X (02), these are used with the installer (the installer will cost £183). I am surprised at the retail price of these, and we need 2 of them (£399 each)! Standard receivers are different that fit into the hearing aids. The ROGER X receivers are small independent squares with three pins that sit on the installer to transfer the license to each infinio sphere. Phonak tech support have notified me that if you ever lost your hearing aid(s) the process would need to start again, and new ROGER X receivers would be needed. This would not be the case if you had a ROGER ON IN.
  2. The current receivers in the hearing aids are £69.95 each, the ROGER X’s are £399.00 each. You are covered by warranty for your hearing aids and current receivers for 4 years.

@threluja thank you for your comments re your Spheres. In your post you mention connecting to Roger v2. May I ask how you did this, please?

At the risk of sounding like I’m currently hosting the worlds biggest pity-party, I’m at the end of my tether with caring for my disabled husband, moving house and dealing with new tech at work atm so the issues are the final straw and I don’t know which way to turn. Therefore, I’d be very grateful for any advice and support. If anyone happens to be in the Cambridge/Ely area of the UK or knows of anyone knowledgeable I can meet with to talk to in person, (or even remotely on Zoom) that would be even better!

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Phonak have really messed up in this area. I don’t know why it is so complicated. They sell the Roger On, but in order to work with their own products, you have to navigate separate receivers and an installer. And run the risk of them being de-installed. What a nightmare.

Personally, I think you have been recommended the wrong Roger On product. The Roger On iN is easier as there is a direct install. The downside is that it is more expensive. It retails at £1500+. However, I have seen them on Ebay for £500.

One option could be the Phonak PartnerMic. This is considerably cheaper:

Phonak PartnerMic for Marvel, Paradise & Lumity hearing aids | Connevans4

Connevans

This could work, if you are talking one to one with a specific person most of the time.

There is no easy solution though. Unfortunately Phonak have bedazzled us with this tech which a lot of people have not been happy about. When it works, it is brilliant. I can certify that. As I have used my Roger On iN in a classroom setting. However… I have also discovered that if your hearing aids are set up well, with and using features such as speech booster/enhancer, available both on Phonak and Oticon hearing aids, it will go some way to solving your problems with soft/women’s voices. It might be an idea to go back to Specsavers and see if they can optimise the settings in Target to do this.

Hi Nenen, I think the main issue the Roger, I have a Roger In v2 which has software licences contained within it and the transfer from the device to the hearing aids is very easy and you can do using the device.

It is stupidly complicated and Phonak do themselves no favours with the model. I am guessing you have no way of going back to the Access to Work lady to swap the Roger to a Roger In as this would be the easiest and best option by far. My Roger On In was through access to work too.

The In is far more expensive as it includes the licences that you are being quoted for with the Roger X. For a Non In you do need the installer and this is very very clunky.

Phonak have themselves got rid of this model with the Roger In V3 which is even more annoying still if you have the v2.

Reading it through again I think they bought the Roger originally as with shoes to your NHS Oticons this is the correct (and only option).

It is a slider setting in the Target software. See an explanation here:

That’s a lot of really nice Roger equipment. Access to Work should get the Roger X receivers for you to allow your hearing aids to connect to the Roger devices.

It might be useful for you to have your audiologist activate a manual program for the Sphere program–if you try it out and it doesn’t really make much difference for you, the infinios without the sphere chip are considerably smaller behind the ear.

But it sounds like the Phonaks are already working pretty well for you. Maybe you don’t really need to get the Roger stuff figured out until later to be sure that these hearing aids are a good fit. There are changes coming down the line in the availability of these Roger X receivers. :thinking:

As @Neville says, you have an amazing set of Roger equipment there.
Don’t despair, try to get A to W to exchange the On for an On In and your can diy.
Once your licences are installed the rest will work.
As far as comfort is concerned, you could try some soft silicon moulds. They will need a large vent to avoid occlusion as your low frequency hearing is so good.
Remember NHS are generally not familiar with Roger, you are at the beginning of a rewarding journey.

Dealing with access to work is generally very hard I’ve done it myself. I do think a conversation needs to be reopened though to see what can be done. If really nothing can be done, then I wonder if they would let you sell the roger equipment you have and put the money towards some new equipment. The thing to focus on though regardless of Roger, is that the spheres are working for you. There are a lot of adjustments you can make within the app that you can do yourself plus things the audiologist can do, there are ways of really enhancing speech clarity to what you want. So although the Roger stuff is really frustrating, you are ultimately hearing better than you have before and your hard earned money has paid off as it were.

I’m a Phonak user. I really think Phonak shoot itself in the foot with the way they market the Roger devices. Everything should work like the partner mic. You buy it, and it works with your aids. No having to mess with installers or figuring out the Roger landscape.

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